Wire gripping device for wire tying machines



Jan. 1, 1952 K. E. SCHULZE 2,580,848

WIRE GRIPPING DEVICE FOR WIRE TYING MACHINES Filed March 8. 1947 INVENTOR. KZ/er E210 Jam/42E Patented Jan. 1, 1952 MACHINES iiurtiEi-icschulze, San Franciscmifialifl,'assignor I to Ernest .Roe, doing business as "Coast Wire Company, San Francisco, Calif. i

Application March 8, 1947, Serial No. 7333296 3 Claims. (01. 24 434) This invention relates to wire tying machines and, more particularly, to improvements in wire lg-rippers :utilized :in wire tying machines and,

especially, to the type of gripper adapted to secure fiat wire straps or hands or round wire around boxes, packages, bundles, or th ilike.

'Thepresent invention is in the nature of a continuation in part of my copending application Serial No. 701,530, 'filed October 5, 1946, .now Patent:2,460;846, for Wire'Tying Machine.

One of the objects of the present invention is generally to improve the wire grippers useful in tensioning wires during tying thereof, as performed by wire tying machines of the type disclosed in mysaid copending application Serial .No. 701,530 and in United States Letters Patent .lio. 1,545,407, dated July 7, 1925, issued to Draw e a1.

A specific object of the present invention is to provide a wire gripper particularly for gripping and tensioning fiat wires or hands, or round wires, which insures a positive gripping action of the said wire or .band to enable proper tensioning thereof during the wire tying operations. A .previous defect in wire .grippers of the character mentioned has been that they are dependent, in whole Orin part, upon coil springs or other similar tensioning devices to cause the gripping element to hold the wire against an underlying bed. In the present invention there is no coil spring or other tensioning device utilized with the gripper element per se and, consequently, the factor of spring tension deterioration need not be reckoned with. In the present invention,

the gripper is tensioned into gripping position by means of the wire per 'se and is not dependent 'upon other spring bias means. This is a particularly useful improvement in-view of the fact .that when springs or other tensioning devices wear out or break, the grippers of heretofore .known wire tying machines became inoperative or allowed the coil end of the wire to fall from ly, when springs or other ,tensioning devices in heretofore known grippers wearout .or losehecessary tensioning effect the .resultant'tie is loose and ineffective to bind properly an object to be tied. f

a A further :specific object of the :present invensimplifying the use .thereof..

. 2 tion' is to provide a gripper of :the character mentioned which comp-rises only one moving part, thereby cutting the costs of manufacture and servicing of the machine and whichiurther minimizes breakageduring usage res well as Furtherobjects and advantages of-the inventionwilli become apparent upon reference to the accompanying specification and drawings, in which similar characters of reference represent corresponding parts in the several views.

In the drawings:

- Fig. 1 is a front elevational .view of 'a fragmentary portion of a wire tying machineand a right and left gripperp Y -F.ig.; 2 'is :a similar view, :showing wires {positioned in saidgrippers and fragmentarily around a bundle to be tied.

Eig. 3-is :a similar View, showing thecompleted tie and prior .to cutting the free ends thereof.

Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of :-the right gripper in operative wire-gripping position.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the left gripper. 6 .is a'perspective view of the right gripper. The instant invention is particularly illustrated and described with reference to use with :flat wire straps, but it is understood that it may be used to grip round Wire of standard types. As illustrated herein, the grippers, indicated generally as the left gripper A .and theright gripper B, may be utilized with any suitable wire tying machine of the general character disclosed in United States Letters Patent .No. 1,545,407, 'dated luly 7, 1925, issued .to C. L. Drew .et a1. and with certain improvements thereof disclosed in ,my copending application for United .States Letters Patent serial .No. 701,530, filed October 5,

19.46. .I will refer to left and .right cutting blades as -C and D. respectively, and the twisting gear as E. A package to be tied will be indicated atF and thewire utilized .totie the said package will be generally indicated at G.

' .The left gripper A-comprises a plate, generally indicated :at 2, which is pivotally mounted, as at .3, upon a-verticallydisposed support 4. The said gripper plate '2 is providedwith a knurled wire- -grinp-ing portion .5, adapted tooverlie a horizontally disposed bed :6. The bed 0 is provided -with a rertically projecting guide 7 to prevent .lateral movement of the wire in one direction,

while the support 4 prevents-movement oft-l re the plate 2 to vertical support 4 is disposed eccentrically with respect to distribution of weight of the plate so that the rump portion 8 normally depends below the knurled portion thereof, as indicated in Fig. 1. support 4 to limit pivotal movement of the plate 2.

The right gripper comprises a plate, generally indicated at l2, pivotally mounted, as at [3, upon a vertical support 14. The said plate I2 is provided with a knurled wire gripping portion l5 which overlies a bed IS. The said plate I2 is provided with a rump portion l1 and is pivotally mounted upon the said vertical support 14 eccentrically with respect to weight distribution of the said plate so that the rump portion ll normally depends below the position of the knurled portion l5, as indicated in Fig. l. A guide member, generally indicated at 18, is provided laterally of the rump portion I1 and comprises a beveled projection 19 which projects below and laterally of the normal position of rump portion H, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 6. A pin 2| is provided in the support l4 and projects therefrom to limit the pivotal movement of plate l2. The left gripper A is disposed so that the bed 6 is slightly below the position of the cutting slots through which the wire is initially placed, while the right gripper B is disposed so that the bed I6 is slightly below the cutting slots through which the wire is last placed in tying a package therewith.

For convenience, I will refer to the end of the wire, which is positioned to be gripped in gripper A'preparatory to making a tie, as M. For convenience this may be referred to as the tail end of the wire and I will refer to the end of the wire positioned for tensioning in gripper B as P and it may be referred to, for convenience, as the coil end of the wire. As above noted, the bed [6 of right gripper B is disposed slightly below the slots of the blade D in which the wire is positioned at' the completion of the encirclement of the bundle.

In positioning the wire to be tied, the end M of the wire is inserted under the knurled portion around the package through the upper slots of blades C, twisting gear E, and thence through the upper slots of blades D.

It will be seen that when the end M is fed from its position between knurled portion 5 and bed 6 upwardly through the upper slots of blades C the wire contacts the rump portion 8 of the plate 2, thereby causing the said plateto pivot. The pressure of the wire upwardly against the rump causes the knurled portion 5 to grip downwardly upon the wire disposed over the bed 6.

With respect to the end P of the wire, after the package has been encircled the said end P is moved laterally toward the plate I4 between -the'bed l6 and knurled portion I5. In view of the fact that the bevel portion I9 of guide I8 is disposed below the rump H, the wire will be retarded in its lateral movement toward the plate I4. The wiretends to slide or cam over the bevel portion l9 and when it reaches the dotted line position of Fig. 2 it contacts the rump portion I! and forces the knurled portion of the plate downwardlyupon the wire disposed between the knurled portion l5 and bed 16 to insure a tight grip thereupon for tensioning thereof.

' Thus it is seen that by providing the bevel por- I A pin 9 is positioned in the tion IS in the path of the laterally moving wire the operator is enabled to position a portion of the end P of the wire between the knurled portion l5 of the plate l2 and the bed 18 prior to contact of the wire with the underside of the rump I 1.

Further, the fact that the slots in the blades D, through which the end of wire P is fed, are disposed above the bed IB and the fact that the rump I! is disposed below said bed causes the wire to be bent, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, so

that the coil end P of the wire is held releasably in position in the machine even after the out has been made and the tie completed.

It is to be understood that the relative arrangement of the slotted cutting blades C and D, disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 701,530, may be used with the instant improvement in gripperabearing in mind that the relative position of beds 6 and I6 and rump portions 8 and IT, with respect to the ends of the wires M and P, are, as above indicated, namely,

that the left gripper bed and rump portion of the plate of the left gripper are disposed normally below the initial position of the end of the wire M in the cutting slots of the machine, while the end P is positioned in the machine, i. e., the cutting blades above the bed and rump portion of the right gripper; or, as previously mentioned, the instant gripper may be used with the character of machine disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,545,407, which uses a single cutting slot or guide. Principally, the position of the grippers relative to initial and final positions of the wire to be tied in a given machine is dependent upon the ability of the wire, so positioned, to exert compression adjacent to the rump portions in the direction of pivotal movement of the plates 2 and I2 after a portion of the wire is disposed between a respective bed and knurled portion.

While I have described the invention in more or less specific detail for purposes of clarity of illustration, example, and description, various changes and modifications may be made in the structural design of the several parts of the grippers and in the positioning of the said grippers and/or parts thereof relative to the wire tying machine with which they are used without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim: I

1. An improved gripper for a wire tying machine having a gripper and a wire cutteradjacent said gripper, said grippercomprising a horizontal bed, and aplate having a knurled wire gripping-portion adapted to overlie the said'bed,

a rump portion on the underside of said plate and next adjacent to said cutter and a pivot for said plate disposed eccentrically with respect to the distribution of weight of the plate so that the rump portion normally depends below the knurled portion, the bed and plate being disposed so that the bed of the gripper is slightly below the position of the cutter, whereby pressure of a' wire inserted in the machine is exerted upwardly against the rump and causes the knurled portion to grip downwardly upon a portion of said wire disposed over the bed.

2. An improved gripper for a wire tying machine having a gripper and a wire cutter adjacent said gripper, said gripper comprising a horizontal bed, a vertically projecting guide on one side of said bed, a second vertically disposed guide on the other side of said bed, and a plate having a knurled wire gripping portion adapted to overlie the said bed, a rump portion on the underside of said plate and next adjacent to said cutter and a pivot for said plate disposed eccentrically with respect to the distribution of weight of the plate so that the rump portion normally depends below the knurled portion, the bed and plate being disposed so that the bed of the gripper is slightly below the position of the cutter, whereby a wire inserted in the machine is maintained against lateral movement in either direction and pressure of the wire upwardly against the rump causes the knurled portion to grip downwardly upon a portion of said wire disposed over the bed.

3. An improved gripper for a wire tying machine having a gripper and cutter adjacent said gripper, said gripper comprising a horizontal bed, a plate having a knurled wire gripping portion adapted to overlie the said bed, a rump portion on the underside of said plate and next adjacent to said cutter and a pivot for said plate disposed eccentrically with respect to the distribution of weight of the plate so that the rump portion normally depends below the knurled portion, the bed and plate being disposed so that the bed of the gripper is slightly below the position of the cutter, a guide member located laterally of the rump portion said guide member including a beveled projection which projects below and laterally of the normal position of the rump portion of the gripper, whereby a wire fed into the wire tying machine is retarded in its lateral movement toward the plate of the gripper and tends to cam over the beveled portion 5 before it contacts the rump portion of the gripl0 KURT ERIC SCHULZE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 103,714 Browne May 31, 1870 105,483 Owens July 19, 1870 20 340,557 Comins Apr. 27, 1886 814,808 Seitz Mar. 13, 1906 1,203,715 Doust Nov. 7, 1916 1,265,620 Cubiac May 7, 1918 1,646,336 Alfano et a1 Oct. 18, 1927 25 1,809,566 Ott June 9, 1931 1,846,200 Harvey Feb. 23, 1932 2,292,746 Donald Aug. 11, 1942 2,490,862 Elsner Dec. 13, 1949 o FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 27,685 Austria Mar. '11, 1907 

